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u/Ok-Demand2499

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Three possible box-art directions for our new NES homebrew game — which one grabs you?
▲ 45 r/nes

Three possible box-art directions for our new NES homebrew game — which one grabs you?

We told you guys (the NES reddit community) about Legionnaires, a new NES homebrew game inspired by games like Contra and Metal Gear and showed the gameplay in other posts.

We're now working on the physical box art, and we thought it would be fun to get some outside opinions before we settle on a final composition.

The artwork is being developed by Romano Molenaar, a professional comic artist known for his work for Marvel and DC Comics. These are three early pencil concepts he's created for the Legionnaires cover.

Which one speaks to you the most?

A — Two soldiers and the island, with a classic action-game composition.

B — A stronger focus on the two protagonists, with the island and military setting behind them.

C — A more dramatic comic-book composition, with large character portraits and the island below.

We are especially curious about two things:

  • Which one catches your eye first?
  • Which one feels most like an authentic NES box you'd have wanted to pick up in the late 80s / early 90s?

These are early sketches, so the final artwork will be fully drawn, inked and colored.

u/Ok-Demand2499 — 3 days ago
▲ 107 r/nes

Legionnaires comes to life.

A month ago my son and I showed you our NES homebrew game — we’ve come a long way since then

About a month ago I posted here about Legionnaires, the NES homebrew game my son and I are working on.

Since then, things have moved quite a bit.

The game has also grown considerably since we releasd a demo on itchio We’ve been adding new areas, enemies, bosses, exploration and puzzle elements while trying to keep everything feeling exciting and fresh.

Here’s a new trailer.

We’re still working on the game and would genuinely love to hear what you think.

If you’d like to follow the project before the Kickstarter launches( yes we are trying to make physical media in 2026 if there is interest ), there’s a pre-launch page set up.

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the first post — it really helped us keep pushing this forward.

u/Ok-Demand2499 — 9 days ago
▲ 101 r/nes

unlicensed nes games, any love ?

The world of unlicensed NES games is one of the most fascinating chapters in gaming history.

While Nintendo controlled the official NES library through its licensing program and the 10NES lockout chip, a number of independent publishers chose a different path. Companies like Color Dreams, American Video Entertainment (AVE), Camerica, Codemasters, Sachen, HES, and Active Enterprises developed and published games without Nintendo's approval.

To bypass the lockout chip, different techniques were used. Some cartridges generated electrical interference to disable the security chip, while others relied on custom hardware or region-specific cartridge designs. These technical workarounds were surprisingly clever for their time.

Although many unlicensed games gained a reputation for poor quality, that's only part of the story. Several publishers pushed technical boundaries, experimented with unique cartridge hardware, and released titles that have since become cult classics. Some even introduced concepts that were uncommon on the NES.

Today, unlicensed NES cartridges are an important part of video game history. They represent independent developers challenging one of the most tightly controlled gaming ecosystems ever created. Whether you love them or hate them, they helped shape the homebrew scene and remain highly sought after by collectors.

What's your favorite unlicensed NES game or publisher?

u/Ok-Demand2499 — 20 days ago
▲ 0 r/nes

Got a new NES prototype for the collection.

This might not be for everyone , but i got a new prototype for nes collection.

Ever wondered how NES prototypes were actually used during development?

Unlike the polished cartridges we know today, prototypes were working development builds used to test gameplay, fix bugs, and evaluate new features. Many were assembled by hand using EPROM chips with UV-erasable windows, allowing developers to rewrite the game data over and over again as development progressed.

Some prototypes were simple bare PCBs, while others were placed inside recycled retail cartridges with handwritten labels. Because they were working tools rather than collectible items, most were discarded once a game was finished.

Today, surviving NES prototypes are among the rarest pieces of Nintendo history. They often contain differences from the final release—unused levels, alternate graphics, different music, debugging menus, or even entirely removed gameplay mechanics. In some cases, prototypes are the only evidence that a cancelled game ever existed.

It's fascinating to think that every finished NES game probably existed in dozens of different prototype versions before reaching store shelves.

Do you own a prototype, or have a favorite prototype discovery that revealed something unexpected?

u/Ok-Demand2499 — 20 days ago
▲ 13 r/taiwan

(聖謙企業 Looking for former Sachen (Thin Chen Enterprise) employees or developers for a historical article (Taiwan NES unlicensed games)

hello everyone,

I'm writing a deep-dive article for retrolike.net about one of the most prolific — yet least documented — players in NES history: **Sachen** (聖謙企業 / Thin Chen Enterprise) from Taiwan.

In the late 80s and 90s they pumped out over 70 unlicensed NES/Famicom titles, from originals to wild ports. Games like *Metal Fighter*, *Little Red Hood*, *Jurassic Boy* and many more. Yet almost nothing is known about the actual people who made them.

I'm especially searching for:
- Former developers or employees who worked at Sachen or Joy Van
- Anyone connected to Ei-How Yang (楊逸豪 / E.H.Y.)
- Stories about how these games were developed in that wild unlicensed era

This part of NES history is slowly disappearing. I want to preserve it properly before it's too late.

If you have any information, worked there, or know someone who did — please DM me or comment. Every detail helps. All contributions will be credited.

Thank you!

#NES #Famicom #RetroGaming #Sachen #Unlicensed

我是 retrolike.net 的作者，正在撰寫一篇關於台灣老廠商 SACHEN（聖謙企業 / Thin Chen Enterprise）的深度文章。

這家公司曾在80-90年代發行了大量未授權的 NES / Famicom 遊戲，但關於公司背後的人員資訊非常少。

特別尋找：
- 曾在 Sachen 或 Joy Van 工作過的前員工、開發者
- 認識 楊逸豪（Ei-How Yang / E.H.Y.）的人
- 任何開發過程的故事或資訊

希望能在這些歷史消失前記錄下來，所有貢獻都會妥善致謝。

如果您曾在那裡工作、認識相關人士，或有任何線索，歡迎私訊或留言。非常感謝！
reddit.com
u/Ok-Demand2499 — 26 days ago
▲ 8 r/retrogames

Looking for former Sachen (Thin Chen Enterprise) employees or developers for a historical article (Taiwan NES unlicensed games)

hello everyone,

I'm writing a deep-dive article for retrolike.net about one of the most prolific — yet least documented — players in NES history: **Sachen** (聖謙企業 / Thin Chen Enterprise) from Taiwan.

In the late 80s and 90s they pumped out over 70 unlicensed NES/Famicom titles, from originals to wild ports. Games like *Metal Fighter*, *Little Red Hood*, *Jurassic Boy* and many more. Yet almost nothing is known about the actual people who made them.

I'm especially searching for:
- Former developers or employees who worked at Sachen or Joy Van
- Anyone connected to Ei-How Yang (楊逸豪 / E.H.Y.)
- Stories about how these games were developed in that wild unlicensed era

This part of NES history is slowly disappearing. I want to preserve it properly before it's too late.

If you have any information, worked there, or know someone who did — please DM me or comment. Every detail helps. All contributions will be credited.

Thank you!

#NES #Famicom #RetroGaming #Sachen #Unlicensed

我是 retrolike.net 的作者，正在撰寫一篇關於台灣老廠商 SACHEN（聖謙企業 / Thin Chen Enterprise）的深度文章。

這家公司曾在80-90年代發行了大量未授權的 NES / Famicom 遊戲，但關於公司背後的人員資訊非常少。

特別尋找：
- 曾在 Sachen 或 Joy Van 工作過的前員工、開發者
- 認識 楊逸豪（Ei-How Yang / E.H.Y.）的人
- 任何開發過程的故事或資訊

希望能在這些歷史消失前記錄下來，所有貢獻都會妥善致謝。

如果您曾在那裡工作、認識相關人士，或有任何線索，歡迎私訊或留言。非常感謝！
reddit.com
u/Ok-Demand2499 — 26 days ago
▲ 302 r/nes

Working on this game with my son.

Hey everyone,

My son and I have been working on a NES homebrew game Legionnaires. It’s been a fun little project for us, and we’ve put together a playable demo on itch.io.

We’re still learning and improving things step by step, so we’d really appreciate feedback from people who enjoy retro games or NES homebrew. Any thoughts on gameplay, difficulty, or feel are very welcome.

u/Ok-Demand2499 — 2 months ago
▲ 1 r/nes

some rare gems from my collection

https://preview.redd.it/pmqtkiqilg9h1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48e79d3a47ad50501647b9507eb1586db917ed3b

some more obscure game from my collection. cheetahmen 2 is my favorite : Until a guy by the name Mike Etler started selling this game in his store, Videogame Connections, this game game was totally unknown among NES gamers and collectors, though it was announced silently at the CES in 1993 as available for wholesale distributors.

The game was developed by Active Enterprises, famous for their Action52 cartridge, released for the NES and Genesis. The Action52 featured the first Cheetahmen game, a totally unplayable platformer, but none the less, Active Enterprises had planned a sequel.

Before Active closed down, they had a completed Cheetahmen II, as complete as a Active Enterprises product could get, and shipped it to the manufacturer. Happy to receive the order, the manufacturer made around 1000 carts, atleast that's how the rumor goes. It seemed that Active had ordered a lot more Action52 plastic cartridge casings than they were also to sell Action52 games.

Therefore, to keep production costs down, the Action52 plastic cases were used to host the Cheetahmen II board (game). As the cases probably already had Action52 stickers on them, a small gold sticker was placed on the back of the cartridge, indicating that this was a Cheetahmen II and not an Action52. Funny part about the sticker is that they spelled the title wrong, the gold sticker says "CHEETAMEN II

But around the time the Cheetahmen II carts were manufactured, Active Enterprises realized that they were unable to pay for the carts. So Hercules, Apollo and Aries, the three Cheetahmen and their new game cartridge, box and manual was put on hold in a warehouse belonging to the manufacturer.

Around 1997, Mike Etler of Videogame Connections managed to get a old of the old Cheetahmen II stock very cheap. The game was sold for no more than US$10, but today a shrinkwrapped can go for US$300 on ebay... if only I had bought a few extras back then. Shortly after Etler offered the game to collectors, his entire stock was gone. Rumors say that atleast one person bought around 100 pieces.

The game is crap, except the catchy tunes and nice intro hehehe. It's totally unplayable.. you'll most likely end up being very pissed off after trying to beat the first stage. But from a collectors point of view, Cheetahmen II is a gem. It shows how the videogame used to be, everyone trying their luck, Active Enterprises just wasn't one of the lucky ones, but you can't blame them for not having a lot of ideas, such as Cheetahmen merchandise, dolls, cartoons of Disney quality (yeah right), and not forgetting the "Game Master", a portable 16bit videogame system, which by the way had Cheetahmen III on its release list.

There's still much mystery surrounding Active Enterprises, like who ran the company. I'm pretty sure it wasn't just "a guy coding games in his garage", but I sure would like to find the guy who wasted a part of his life writing these games :-)

Cheetahmen II was, as stated, never officially released = true rarity! Good luck hunting down a copy.

reddit.com
u/Ok-Demand2499 — 2 months ago
▲ 167 r/nes

my collection

my collection, i need to clean my gameroom, LOL. I always was a cib guy, but found a lot of loose cartridges at fleamarkets and garage sales over the years. so what do you do ? Nothing and you end up with a mixed bag of cib and cartridge only games.

u/Ok-Demand2499 — 3 months ago